Hi guys! What’s going on? It’s been a minute since I’ve updated and I am ready to come back! So let me give you a quick update

I am back in Philly.

Since moving back, so many opportunities have presented itself with me and fitness/training. I have been trying to step away from it, but never mind, I’m back. I’ll incorporate the community and collaborative aspects as I grow & learn & take on new challenges

I am working these days, so my time management needs to be at an all time high.

I have been wanting to interview people who have OR are in the process of getting healthier, now I can start because things are finally falling into place.

I have tagged all my videos of me clowning around + doing some amazing fitness exercises HERE! Check them out and share em with your social media family!

Hey Guys!! Remember a few posts ago when I explained why I needed to start doing sprint/track HIIT workouts to improve my tennis game? Well I have been doing just that. Real Quick: HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training. Alexis & I did distance intervals, not timed intervals. For instance a 50 m dash, all out -then rest or a low intensity jog. The dash was our sprint interval.

I am going into my 4th week doing sprint workouts and, while in the moment I despise them and it reaffirms that I do not miss track, these workouts have helped with movement on the tennis court. That was the bigger & more important goal anyway. Alexis is an ex-trackie and hurdler who ran club track at RU and she plans all of our workouts, which are as followed:

Things are changing, it’s good for me to reflect as I move forward. I figured I’d share with my followers & friends some of my journey.

Past: I started thinking and planning for The Tenth Muse , or as I first called it, M10, in the fall of 2011. By early 2012, it came to be. I had clients, I had my personal trainer’s certification & I was ready to go. Eventually, I quit my job and started training full time. I really loved training, but I realized my life as a personal trainer wasn’t really fulfilling or what I wanted to do. BUT, I didn’t know what it was *exactly* that I wanted to do. Back then I had a confidant or an unoffical business partner; every decision, every idea, any success or failure associated with The Tenth Muse I would share. His opinion and input was so important & valuable as I struggled to figure out exactly what I wanted the Tenth Muse to be and how I could do this – whatever “this” was at that time. In 2013 , just as business started to pick up- bootcamp, clients, partnerships, I left the Philly region for graduate school. It was a master’s of public health program that was housed in the exercise science dept. It was a great program which allowed me to to learn entirely too much. *Nerd alert* While down in South Carolina, the above friendship deteriorated to a point where we will never be friends again. However, I’ve come to realize, as upset as I was, maybe there was something positive in that mess.

Present: My belief in myself has and still does waver. I’ve gotten so much better over the last few years, especially as I am putting trust in my talents and myself rather than others. When it comes to decisions and the future of the Tenth Muse instead of that urge to discuss with someone else, I now work diligently on my craft. I know where I am, I know where I can go & most importantly, I know my abilities, where I see myself & what I envision for the business is very possible. I wanted to rename the business “Aegle” and worked all last year on a business plan for Aegle. [Aegle is Greek and means “Goddess of Radiant Health”] Although I love the name, every week I am reminded about the ingenuity of the Tenth Muse and its meaning. I won’t be changing it anytime soon yall, don’t worry. So what have I been doing? READING! and lots of it. Fast Company is my favorite magazine. Harvard Business Review-I enjoy. Lots of online articles and information about community development and technology’s impact and influence on public health. Reading about leadership, networking, and resources that are available to use. I use social media, and in the last month, my facebook and tumblr followers have significantly increased. I am figuring out what works best on each platform. The goal on social media is to create more conversation and interactions.

Tennis is my favorite sport (Yall know this..right?) I love watching it. I love playing it. I love teaching it. After my boss agreed to start giving me lessons, I had to re-evaluate my workout schedule for a few reasons:

It sucks playing tennis when you are super sore from your workout the previous day

I needed to start doing sport specific training, which is very different than my old routine

I still write everything out

So instead of explaining everything I was doing before, I’ll just write about my updated workout. The picture is what I wrote up and what I use as the bases of my workout these days. Let me explain. Tennis is a sport that requires some endurance- if you have a long match, but most often you are in a rallying fairly quickly (I’d say between 15-30 secs of intense play depending on the skill level.) In between each point you are allowed 25 seconds rest, and on odd number games you have a changeover which is 90 secs max. In between sets the rest break is 2 mins. So my training needs to incorporate that pace…That’s where the HIIT Training comes in. It’s done on a track and it allows me to train closer to how my body would feel in a match. Now I am still keeping my 3-4 mile run once a week with BGR…I need my aerobic system to be working too, I need to be able to handle endurance.

Nah I’m totally kidding, I think body shaming is at an all time high. Body shaming is a result of a person saying negative comments about another person’s weight (or size), a negative attitude and, I’d go on to say, negative thoughts too. Body shaming can result in discrimination against those who are considered “overweight” or “obese.”

What is plyometrics? Better known as plyo is when you are consistently, and quickly stretching and contracting your muscles. Usually this is done with jumping exercises.

Why do plyo?You are doing power training! Also, for the exercise physiology people, when you do plyo, you stress your fast twitch muscle fibers. I find plyo exercises also incorporate balance & possibly coordination (depending on what you’re doing.)

How often such I do this? Plyo is pretty intense, so start with one day a week. Increase to 2 days and if you van handle it, 3 days a week. I would actually venture to say, do a plyo move in your workout routine frequently.

So what about weights, reps & sets? Plyo is very effective with your own body weight, however, you can add some weight to increase the intensity. Weights such as ankle weights, a weighted vest, dumbbells & plates. Reps are between 10-15 for body weight and depending on weight added-less reps. I’ve been sticking with 5 sets and that has been working for me. Below is a photo of the plyo portion of my workouts. Let me add this: it changes and if you are doing more serious training or sport specific training, then the volume, sets, reps all change and will change frequently. This is really for a Plyo 101 guide.

How do I feel about plyo? Love it. It challenges me, plus it adds variation into the workout. It’s easy to get hurt so start out with one day, 1 jump exercise and gradually increase. There are a ton of exercises and it get’s the job done! It’s great to add in a circuit or HITT session.